was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served as a retainer of the Arima clan of Kurume in northern

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

. He was also a Shinto priest of the

Suitengū ''Suiten-gū'' (水天宮) is the name of numerous Shinto shrines in Japan. Suiten-gū shrines are famous for their blessings of safe childbirth, but are also known to provide protection from water-related natural disasters, protection from fire, ...

shrine in Kurume. Maki, also known by his court title of or simply , was a student of the

Mito school refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito Domain (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture). Early The school had its genesis in 1657 when Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1700), second head of the Mito Domain, commissio ...

's ''sonnō-jōi'' ideology, and in particular, Aizawa Seishisai's philosophy. Maki took part in the

Kinmon Incident The , also known as the , was a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan that took place on August 20 unar calendar: 19th day, 7th month 1864, near the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. History Starting with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1 ...

of 1864 and committed suicide near Osaka with his men, after being chased and surrounded by

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princip ...

and Shinsengumi troops.

Early life

Maki was born in Kurume in 1813, to Maki Toshiomi, the family head of the hereditary line of Shinto priests who cared for the Suitengū shrine. It was during Maki's childhood that his father was made a full-fledged samurai by

Arima Yorinori Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of th ...

, the lord of Kurume.Calman, p. 81. When Maki was eleven, his father died, leaving him in charge of the family as well as the shrine.

Intellectual and political career

Combining the teachings he had received from Mitogaku and elsewhere, Maki created a new school of thought called Tenpōgaku, named after the era in which it was founded.

Activity in Kyoto

Maki worked with

Okubo Toshimichi , also Okubo, Ohkubo and Ookubo, is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Ōkubo clan **Ōkubo Tadayo (1532–1594), Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period **Ōkubo Tadasuke (1537–1613), Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku an ...

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sout ...

, in setting up Shimazu Hisamitsu's trip to Kyoto. In 1862, Maki was implicated in the Terada-ya Incident, and briefly imprisoned.

Last battle and death

Maki took part in the

of 1864, and joined in Chōshū's attack on

allied forces in Kyoto; however, he was beaten back. He committed suicide with his troops at Mount TennōzanYamakawa, pp. 94-95. when he was surrounded by Aizu forces under Hayashi Gonsuke and

Jinbo Kuranosuke was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who was a retainer of the Matsudaira clan of Aizu. He served in the Aizu administration as a ''karō''. He fought in the Boshin War, and led the defense of Wakamatsu against the Imperial Japanese Arm ...

, and Shinsengumi forces under Kondō Isami. His death poem was: . Maki was buried in Ōyamazaki-chō, Kyoto. The writer Mitsumasu Kimiaki is Maki's descendant.

Popular portrayals

Maki has appeared in several works of fiction which depict the events of the Bakumatsu era. He is a minor character in Kenji Morita's

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

''Getsumei Seiki'' and Minamoto Tarō's manga ''Fūunjitachi Bakumatsuhen''. He also appeared in the 1986 Asahi TV miniseries ''Byakkotai''.

References